Latest work: "Number 320"

A window I photographed in Kingman, Arizona finds a new home in this architectural detail picture that's reminiscent of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. ©Carol Leigh

An afternoon in Portland

Chris and I had a great time in Portland Thursday with Linda H., who took us to an area she KNEW I'd like — the more industrial part of the city. So great to be shooting with someone who, if I'm taking a photo of a crack on a wall, doesn't make fun of me! We walked under bridges, along railroad tracks, through parking lots, finding interesting signs, businesses, windows, shadows (it was an incredibly sunny day), and murals. Thank you, Linda, for everything. It was a terrific day. ©Carol Leigh

Gridwork

As I work more with creating physical collages, I'm noticing the concept of using a grid as a compositional "structure." The way I tear and place papers tends to have a grid background. And so it is with these photographs, composed of squares and rectangles that also form an overall grid pattern. Just as I select papers and choose their placement, my photographic eye selects lines and shapes and isolates them to create a (to me) pleasing composition.

The strong vertical lines of a building in Salem, Oregon are "punctured" with smaller, more varied, more colorful little rectangular windows.

The side of an old building in Reedsport, Oregon always catches my eye with its square windows set above equally square non-windows. The texture, the sign, and the broken panes relieve the uniformity of the squares.

In the third photo, a large rectangular shape at the bottom holds up the lighter, smaller rectangular elements above it. And to make it more interesting, there are squares and rectangles within larger ones.

The way books were arranged in an antique store caught my eye. I purposely cropped the scene to form a square to emphasize the squarishness of everything within it.

And finally, the red-painted wood and all the vertical/horizontal lines on a building in Colorado turns into another grid of squares and rectangles.

Strong patterns, vertical and horizontal lines, squares and rectangles within more squares and rectangles . . . these are good compositional elements for us to be looking for as we're out and about.

©Carol Leigh, thinking it's hip to be square . . .